Rotating Clothes Drying Rack

ABSTRACT

A rotating clothes drying rack that has a body with two opposed arms. The two opposed arms support a drying support. In the illustrated embodiment, the drying support is a plurality of rods that extend between the two opposed arms. A mounting frame is provided for securing body to desired surface. Body is pivotally mounted to the mounting frame for rotational movement around a horizontal axis between a storage position parallel to the mounting frame and a drying position at an angle relative to the mounting frame. Locking members are provided for locking the body in the stored position. Rotational stops are provided for maintaining the body in drying position. Height adjusting members are provided for selectively positioning between the at least one arm and the at least one rotational stop to adjust the angle of the body in the drying position.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Canadian Pat. Appl. No. 2,684,706filed on Nov. 13, 2009, the contents of which are incorporated hereinfully by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to clothes drying racks and moreparticularly to those of the rotating or foldable type adapted to bemounted to a vertical wall or suspended from an overhead structure suchas a ceiling. The term “clothes drying rack” is understood not to belimited to an arrangement only for use with clothes but is intended tocover its use with other articles such as towels, sheets or anyarticles, which can be hung or secured to it.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Clothes drying racks have long been known and widely used. Historicallysuch drying racks have largely consisted of umbrella or rotary styleracks (Steiner, CA 1331836), collapsible drying racks standing on ahorizontal surface (Efrom, CA 1241302), retractable ceiling mounteddrying racks utilizing a pulley system (Harris, CA 287614), indoordrying racks installed above bathtubs (Dubuc, CA 1268735), drying racksinstalled on vertical walls (Barker, CA 553224 and Leighton, CA 2625010)and drying racks installed on vertical walls specifically designed forbalconies (Cote, CA 2194800).

The patents mentioned above generally attempt to provide an inventionwhich is aesthetically pleasing, will efficiently dry clothes, and willretract or fold so as to be easily stored and out of the way when not inuse. Although these drying racks have achieved considerable popularityand commercial success no patents were found relating to clothes dryingracks mounted to a vertical wall or suspended from an overhead structuresuch as a ceiling or soffit which rotate or fold from a storage positionto a lower drying position in use.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

There is provided a rotating clothes drying rack that includes a bodyhaving opposed arms. The opposed arms support a drying support. Amounting frame is provided for mounting the body to a surface such as awall or a ceiling. The body is pivotally secured to the mounting framefor rotational movement around a horizontal axis between a verticalstored position and a drying position at an angle relative to themounting frame. At least one rotational stop is provided for maintainingthe body in the drying position.

The rotating clothes drying rack described above provides an aestheticwall or ceiling mounted apparatus which rotates from a vertical storageposition to a lower in use position. This enables the drying rack to bestored in a space saving manner when not in use and to be towered to aposition more convenient for hanging articles when in use.

Another aspect involves providing locking members for locking the bodyin the stored position and rotational stops for maintaining the body inthe drying position.

According to another aspect of the rotating clothes drying rack, heightadjusting members are provided for selectively positioning between thearms and the rotational stops to change the angle of the body in thedrying position. In the illustrated embodiment, the angle the dryingrack lies at is determined by stopping pegs and may be modified usingheight adjusting shim blocks which increase the horizontal distancebetween hanging articles thereby causing them to more quickly dry.

According to another aspect of the rotating clothes drying rack, thedrying support as illustrated and described uses drying rods, but couldbe configured using lines, cables, or a mesh screen, among other things.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features will become more apparent from the followingdescription in which reference is made to the appended drawings, thedrawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intendedto be in any way limiting, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view, in section of the drying rack in thevertical storage position.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view the drying rack in the vertical storageposition.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the drying rack in the drying position.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view, in section, of the drying rack in thedrying position.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view, in section, of the drying rack in oneof the drying positions.

FIG. 6 is a front elevation view of a height adjusting block.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of the height adjusting blockillustrated in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a front elevation view, in section, of a variation of thedrying rack that is mounted on a vertical surface.

FIG. 9 is a side elevation view of the drying rack illustrated in FIG. 8in the vertical storage position.

FIG. 10 is a front elevation view of the drying rack illustrated in FIG.8 in the drying position.

FIG. 11 is a side elevation view, in section, of the drying rackillustrated in FIG. 8 in the drying position.

FIG. 12 is a side elevation view in section, of the drying rackillustrated in FIG. 8, in the drying position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A rotating clothes drying rack generally identified by reference numeral10, will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 12. FIGS. 1through 7 illustrate clothes drying rack 10 mounted to an overheadstructure, such as a ceiling. FIGS. 8 through 12 illustrate clothesdrying rack 10 mounted to a vertical structure, such as a wall.

Structure and Relationship of Parts:

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a rotating clothes drying rack10 which includes a body 12 with two opposed arms 14. A drying support16 is supported by two opposed arms 14. In the illustrated embodiment,drying support 16 is a plurality of clothing supports, in the form ofdrying rods 18, that extend between two opposed arms 14. Referring toFIG. 1, a mounting frame 22 is provided for securing body 12 to adesired surface 24 as shown in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 3, body 12 ispivotally mounted to mounting frame 22 for rotational movement around ahorizontal axis 26 between a storage position parallel to mounting frame22 as shown in FIG. 1, and a drying position at an angle relative tomounting frame 22 as shown in FIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 3, horizontalaxis 26 is defined by one of drying rods 18, which has been identifiedby additional reference numeral 20. Referring to FIG. 1, lockingmembers, in the form of locking pegs 28 are provided for locking body 12in the storage position.

Referring to FIG. 3, rotational stops, in the form of stopping pegs 30,are provided on mounting frame 22 for maintaining body 12 in the dryingposition. Referring to FIG. 5, height adjusting members, in the form ofshim blocks 32, are provided for selectively positioning between opposedarms 14 and stopping pegs 30 to adjust the angle of body 12 in thedrying position from an angle such as that shown in FIG. 4 to an anglesuch as that shown in FIG. 5. A mounting engagement 34 is provided forsecuring mounting frame 22 to an overlying horizontal surface 24.

Referring to FIG. 1, while the illustrated embodiment shows body 12 ashaving two opposed arms 14 and drying support 16 in the form of dryingrods 18 that extend between two opposed arms 14, it will be appreciatedthat there could only be one arm 14 or more than two arms 14.Furthermore, drying support 16 can be of other configurations such as amesh screen, or cable or lines extending between opposed arms 14.

Operation:

Referring to FIG. 2, clothes drying rack 10 can be permanently mountedon surface 24 such as a ceiling 36 as illustrated in FIG. 4, or on asurface 24 such as a vertical wall 38 as illustrated in FIG. 9 with theuse of fastening devices 40 such as bolts or screws. When not in use,body 12 is pivoted around horizontal axis 26 to the storage positionparallel to mounting frame 22. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, lockingpegs 28 are inserted through aligned receiving apertures 44 in frame 22and aperture 42 in body 12 to lock body 12 in the storage positionallowing clothes drying rack 10 to be stored in a space saving manner.

Referring to FIG. 4, when it becomes desirable to dry articles,removable locking pegs 28 are removed from apertures 42 and 44 releasingbody 12 from the storage position and allowing body 12 to be manuallypivoted around horizontal axis 26 to the drying position as illustrated.Stopping pegs 30 positioned in apertures 31 on mounting frame 22,illustrated in FIG. 3, maintain body 12 in the drying position. In thedrying position, body 12 is ready to receive wet garments that can beplaced on drying rods 18 of drying support 16.

Referring to FIG. 5, if desired, height adjusting shim blocks 32 can beinserted between arms 14 and stopping pegs 30 to reduce the angle body12 rests at. Using the height adjusting shim blocks 32, increases thehorizontal distance between articles, allowing air to circulate andcausing them to dry faster. Referring to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, in theillustrated embodiment, height adjusting shim blocks 32 are rectangularin shape with a concave inner surface 46 adapted to fit securely onrounded stopping pegs 30, however they could be of other configurationsas well and still function. Stopping pegs 30 could be of otherconfigurations as well with the configuration of height adjusting shimblocks 32 adapted accordingly.

It will be appreciated that clothes drying rack 10 is not only for usewith clothes but is intended to cover use with other articles such astowels, sheets or any articles which can be placed on drying support 16.

FIG. 1 through FIG. 5 show rotating clothes drying rack body 12including mounting brackets 34 which generally include rectangular baseplates 48, adapted to be mounted to or suspended from a ceiling 36 usingsuitable fasteners such as screws or bolts 40, and inner 50 and outer 52vertical mounting structures attached to the base plates 48 usingappropriate means of attachment such as screws and adhesive. The inner50 and outer 52 vertical mounting structures are in turn fastened tovertically oriented support members 54 which form part of mounting frame22, by using, for example, dowels 56 as illustrated in FIG. 1, FIG. 3and FIG. 5.

The drying rack body 12 comprises of a plurality of drying rods 18 withFIG. 1 and FIG. 3 showing two drying rods 18 attached to opposing sidemembers 14 adapted for attachment, while the third drying rod 20 runsthrough each of the side members 14 and pivotally mounts to opposingvertically oriented support arms 14 adapted to receive it, therebybecoming a pivot point or pivot drying rod 20 on which the drying rackbody 12 manually rotates.

As seen in FIG. 1, stopping pegs 30 are positioned in apertures 31adapted to receive them on the support members 54 at a point below thepivot axis 26 of drying rod 18. The stopping pegs 30 horizontally extendin the same plane as the drying rods 18 so as to halt the downwardmovement of the opposed arms 14 and in turn the drying rack body 12 whenrotated, and as such determine the angle the drying rack body 12 restsat in the lower in use drying position.

When the drying rack body 12 is in the vertical storage position asshown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, insertion of the removable locking pegs 28through aligned apertures 42 in the support arms 14 and apertures 44 inthe support member 54 locks the drying rack body 12 in a verticalposition parallel with the support members 54. Generally the removablelocking pegs 28 will consist of a rod intersected at one end by asmaller rod 58 thereby forming a “T” shaped object.

FIG. 5 shows the drying rack body 12 in the lower in use drying positionand the height adjusting blocks 32 inserted between the pivot drying rod18 and the stopping pegs 30, thereby reducing the downward angle thedrying rack body 12 lies when in the lower in use drying position andincreasing the horizontal distance between drying rods 18.

As shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the height adjusting blocks 32are typically rectangular in shape and have a concave portion removed inthe middle to provide a concave inner surface 46 that coincides with theshape and size of the stopping pegs 30 so as to allow the heightadjusting blocks 32 to sit flush on the stopping pegs 30.

Variations:

Referring to FIG. 8 through FIG. 12, there is illustrated a variation ofthe rotating clothes drying rack that can be mounted onto surface 24such as a vertical wall 38. Clothes drying rack 10 is almost identicalto that shown in FIG. 1 through FIG. 7 except that mounting frame 22 isadapted to be secured to surface 24 that is vertical. FIG. 8 to FIG. 12are directed to a variation of the rotating clothes drying rackapparatus 10 of FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, illustrating modified wall mountsupport members 54 adapted to be mounted to a wall 38 other appropriatevertical structure, in this case using recessed mounting locations 60and suitable fasteners such as screws or bolts 40. The wall mountconfiguration does not require mounting brackets 34 and apart from thepreceding is in all respects materially the same as the ceiling mountedconfiguration shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 5.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in itsnon-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included,but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to anelement by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibilitythat more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearlyrequires that there be one and only one of the elements.

The following claims are to be understood to include what isspecifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptuallyequivalent, and what can be obviously substituted. Those skilled in theart will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of thedescribed embodiments can be configured without departing from the scopeof the claims. The illustrated embodiments have been set forth only asexamples and should not be taken as limiting the invention. It is to beunderstood that, within the scope of the following claims, the inventionmay be practiced other than as specifically illustrated and described.

1. A rotating clothes drying rack comprising: a body having at least onearm; a drying support supported by the at least one arm; a mountingframe for mounting the body to a surface, the body being pivotallysecured to the mounting frame for rotational movement around ahorizontal axis between a stored position and a drying position at anangle relative to the mounting frame; and at least one rotational stopfor maintaining the body in the drying position.
 2. The rotating clothesdrying rack of claim 1, wherein the body is parallel to the mountingframe in the stored position and at least one locking member is providedfor locking the body in the stored position.
 3. The rotating clothesdrying rack of claim 1, wherein at least one height adjusting member isprovided for selectively positioning between the at least one arm andthe at least one rotational stop to change the angle of the body in thedrying position.
 4. The rotating clothes drying rack of claim 1, whereinthe drying support is a plurality of clothing supports supported by theat least one arm.
 5. The rotating clothes drying rack of claim 1,wherein the body has arms and the drying support is a plurality ofclothing supports extending between the arms.
 6. The rotating clothesdrying rack of claim 4, wherein the clothing supports are rods.
 7. Therotating clothes drying rack of claim 6, wherein one of the rodspivotally secures the body to the mounting frame.
 8. The rotatingclothes drying rack of claim 1, wherein the body has arms, and thedrying support is a plurality of rods extending between the arms.
 9. Therotating clothes drying rack of claim 1 wherein a mounting engagement isprovided for securing the mounting frame to one of a vertical surface oran overlying horizontal surface.
 10. The rotating clothes drying rack ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one rotational stop is a stopping peg thatis inserted into at least one aperture in the mounting frame, thestopping peg supporting the body in a selected rotational position. 11.The rotating clothes drying rack of claim 2, wherein the at least onelocking member is a locking peg that is inserted into aligned aperturesin the body and the mounting frame.
 12. The rotating clothes drying rackof claim 3, wherein the at least one height adjusting member is a shimblock.
 13. The rotating clothes drying rack of claim 12, wherein atleast one rotational stop is a stopping peg and the shim block has aconcave portion that receives the stopping peg.